1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicle headlight device.
2. Description of Related Art
A vehicle headlight device that includes a laser light source, a movable mirror element, and an actuator and forms various light distribution patterns is known (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-38885 (JP 2015-38885 A)).
In addition, a vehicle headlight device is known that provides illumination in front of a host vehicle by combining respective LED irradiation-enabled regions of a plurality of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In this known vehicle headlight device, some of the plurality of LEDs are turned off or dimmed, so that a region corresponding to a vehicle in front of the host vehicle (an example of an irradiation suppression target object) is included in a dark region of a light distribution pattern (a region not irradiated with a high beam light), in a case where the vehicle in front is detected (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-016773 (JP 2015-016773 A)). This is to reduce a dazzle with respect to the vehicle in front.
Also known is a vehicle headlight device that is capable of forming a dark region by dividing and shielding an irradiation-enabled region in a vertical direction with a movable shade. In this vehicle headlight device, a position and a swivel angle (an orientation of an optical axis in a horizontal plane) of the movable shade is controlled, so that a region corresponding to a vehicle in front is included in the dark region of a light distribution pattern, in a case where the vehicle in front is detected (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-227088 (JP 2009-227088 A)). This is to reduce a dazzle with respect to the vehicle in front.
In the vehicle headlight devices disclosed in JP 2015-016773 A and JP 2009-227088 A, the dark region of the light distribution pattern cannot be set with a high level of resolution due to constraints associated with a configuration of the LED or a configuration of the movable shade. Accordingly, a problem arises as even a region that may be irradiated with a high beam light originally is included in the dark region. In other words, a problem arises as even the region that may be irradiated with the high beam light originally is affected by the turning off of the LED or shading by the movable shade and becomes dark.